its most important historians. Two of these were the liberal politician and
general Vicente Riva Palacio (1832–96) and the historian and minister of
education Justo Sierra (1848–1912). They argued that the best feature of the
colonial period was the emergence of the mestizo (i.e. the person of mixed
Native-European blood) out of the union between Spaniards and Indians, for
these people represented the most vigorous force in Mexican history (Brading
2001: 524). Once again, native monumental antiquities became acceptable.
The old National Museum of Mexico was founded for the second time in
- It was now a public museum of natural history, archaeology and history,
located in part of the building of the National Palace in the centre of Mexico
City. Aztec motifs became acceptable for the architectural decoration of
Mexico City, and an impressive monument to Cuauthe ́moc, the last free
Aztec king, was built in the Avenue of Reforma. The pavilion representing
Mexico in the International Exposition held in Paris in 1889 was also designed
in neo-Aztec style.
The National Museum of Mexico became the leading academic institution
for the study of Mexican antiquities. From 1877 the museum published the
Anales del Museo Nacional(Bernal 1980: 139, 154). A leadingWgure in the
renewal of interest in archaeology was Captain Leopoldo Batres (1852–1926),
theWrst Inspector of Archaeological Monuments from 1885, an amateur with
contacts with the French anthropologist Paul Broca (Chapter 12) (Va ́zquez
Leo ́n 1994: 70). In 1897 new legislation was introduced which attempted to
help protect antiquities (Bernal 1980: 140). In 1909 the function of the
Inspeccio ́n y Conservacio ́n de Monumentos Arqueolo ́gicos de la Repu ́blica
Mexicana (the oYce for the inspection and conservation of archaeological
monuments in Mexico) was legally established. This renewed interest towards
the past would pave the way for the deWnitive inclusion of the pre-Columbian
past as the foundation of national history after the revolution of 1910, for
which a key role would be played by Manuel Gamio (1883–1960).
The development of archaeology in Peru was less marked. There was an
increase of societies, associations and museums in the 1840s, to which the
publication, in 1851, of two naturalists, the Peruvian Mariano Rivero (Mariano
Eduardo de Rivero y Ustariz) (1798–1857) and the Swiss Johann von Tschurdi’s
(1818–89)Antigu ̈edades Peruanaswas perhaps related. Interestingly, Rivero
had been educated in London and Paris, where he met Alexander von Hum-
boldt, who would have a great inXuence on his future intellectual develop-
ment (www nd-d). There also seems to have been a growth in the formation
of collections and also in large-scale looting at this time together with a
thriving market of fake antiquities. These factors were partly encouraged by
both local collectors and European museums (Cha ́vez 1992: 45; Hocquen-
ghemet al. 1987). Examples of theWrst were the collections of antiquities
182 Archaeology of Informal Imperialism